Saturday’s football roundup: Kennebunk survives scare

KENNEBUNK — Top-seeded Kennebunk overcame an early deficit and made a crucial stop on a 2-point conversion attempt as it edged eighth-seeded Leavitt 16-14 in a Class B South football quarterfinal Saturday afternoon.

The Rams (9-0) built a 16-8 lead on a touchdown run by Pat Saunders with 5:31 left in the third quarter. Leavitt (2-7) cut the deficit to 16-14 on a 66-yard touchdown pass later in the quarter but missed the 2-point conversion.

Cheverus running back Rylan Benedict tries to break away from Lewiston's Mike Harris in the first quarter of their Class A North playoff game Saturday at Boulos Stadium. Third-seeded Cheverus advanced to the semifinals with a 30-14 victory. Photos by Joel Page/Staff Photographer

Max Coffin of Cheverus finds some running room beyond the line of scrimmage. Cheverus will travel to Windham for a regional semifinal next weekend.

Leavitt went ahead 8-0 on a 50-yard touchdown pass with 9:17 remaining in the second quarter.

Kennebunk got a 25-yard touchdown pass from Tripp Bush to Brian Hickey but missed the conversion. Jared Dyer’s 20-yard field goal on the final play of the half gave the Rams a 9-8 lead.

SANFORD 27, DEERING 6: Frank Veino passed for 191 yards and two touchdowns for the fourth-seeded Spartans (5-3) in a Class A South quarterfinal victory over No. 5 Deering (3-5) in Sanford.

Sanford built a 13-0 halftime lead on touchdown runs by Keith Kerrigan (12 yards) and Nick Howard (26 yards). Veino connected with Ethan Belanger for a 59-yard touchdown that made it 19-0 in the third quarter, then added an 18-yard pass to Ethan Emard in the fourth.

CHEVERUS 30, LEWISTON 14: Jack Casale rushed for two touchdowns in the first half as the third-seeded Stags (5-4) built a 23-0 lead on their way to Class A North quarterfinal victory over No. 6 Lewiston (2-7) at Boulos Stadium.

Casale opened the scoring with a 1-yard plunge in the first quarter. The Stags’ defense added to the lead later in the quarter, sacking Lewiston quarterback Tanner Cortes in the end zone for a safety.

Casale swept around left end for a 5-yard run in the second quarter, and Benedict scored from 1 yard in the final minute of the half.

Cortes threw two touchdown passes in the second half – 21 yards to Brock Belanger and 43 yards to Desmond Jackson. Those TDs were sandwiched around a 5-yard touchdown run by Max Coffin of Cheverus.

BIDDEFORD 29, YORK 0: Austin Dutremble returned a punt for a touchdown and Curtis Petit rushed for two touchdowns in the first quarter to start the second-seeded Tigers (8-1) on their way to a win over No. 7 York (3-6) in a Class B South quarterfinal at Waterhouse Field.

Biddeford led 20-0 after one quarter, then got another touchdown from Dutremble and a 34-yard field goal from Caleb Ball to make it 29-0 at halftime.

WELLS 56, YARMOUTH 12: Riley Dempsey rushed for three touchdowns and Evan Whitten added two touchdowns – all in the first half – as the second-seeded Warriors (8-1) beat the seventh-seeded Clippers (3-6) in a Class C South quarterfinal in Wells.

Wells raced to a 29-0 lead less than seven minutes into the game, with two touchdowns by Dempsey and one each by Whitten and Nick Hansen.

John Thoma threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Jack True to get Yarmouth on the board, but Whitten quickly answered with a 53-yard run.

Michael Wrigley added a 34-yard pass to Deandre Woods early in the second quarter, and Dempsey made it 50-6 with a 74 yard run.

Thoma connected with Remi LeBlanc for an 85-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Caleb Chase score the final touchdown for Wells.

FRYEBURG ACADEMY 28, MOUNTAIN VALLEY 0: Cody Gullikson rushed for a pair of touchdowns for the third-seeded Raiders (7-2) as they downed the sixth-seeded Falcons (4-5) in a Class C South quarterfinal in Fryeburg.

The Raiders opened the scoring on a 6-yard touchdown run by Jared Chisari in the first quarter. Fryeburg added two more touchdowns in the second quarter on a 17-yard pass from Oscar Saunders to Caleb Eklund and a 1-yard run by Gullikson.

Gullikson closed out the scoring with a 2-yard run in the fourth quarter.

WINSLOW 55, OLD TOWN 16: The third-seeded Black Raiders (8-1) held the sixth-seeded Coyotes (4-5) to 21 yards in the first half as they advanced to the Class C North semifinals.

Big plays on defense and special teams sparked the Black Raiders.

Winslow took a 6-0 lead when Dylan Hutchinson caught a 37-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Gagnon midway through the first quarter. After Gagnon’s kickoff pinned the Coyotes inside their own 5, Dimitrios Bailis sacked Old Town quarterback Hunter Brasslett in the end zone for a safety. Hutchinson returned the ensuing free kick 64 yards for a touchdown, and Winslow had a 15-0 lead.

Hutchinson also had a 53-yard punt return to set up a touchdown early in the second quarter.

Winslow made it 22-0 when Ryan Fredette blocked a punt and recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown with 3:52 left in the first quarter.

“Special teams in the first half were really good. I thought that Ryan Gagnon’s kickoffs were excellent,” Winslow Coach Mike Siviski said. “They were deep, and we trapped them. We had good field position and we did something with it.”

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